Tedded - Business Book Review

• 30Nov

  Book Review: Outliers (Malcolm Gladwell, 2008)

  Book Reviews 1 Comment

  “People don’t rise from nothing.”

  

  “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell is a book telling us the stories of success. The examples of outliers range from geniuses (someone IQ over 190!), business tycoons (Bill Gates among others), rock stars (the Beatles), and software programmers (Bill Joy and… well, Bill Gates). The book tries to uncover “the secrets of a remarkable lawyer, look at what separates the very best pilots from pilots who have crashed planes, and try to figure out why Asians are so good at math.”

  “Outliers” is separated into two parts. One is “Opportunity” and the other is “Legacy”. Malcolm Gladwell portrays the stories of success through the two main themes, opportunity and legacy. That those successful people do not rise from nothing. Sometimes, once-in-a-life-time and unintentional opportunity took someone from a no one to be a total outlier.

  …

  It is not truly fair to compare the book to the ideal business book (a book that is easy to understand, distinct, practical, credible, insightful, and provides great reading experience) because this is no typical business or self-improvement book. However, I’ll rate it honestly.

  Ease of Understanding: 8/10: The beauty of the book is how Malcolm Gladwell made the book become like a series of short stories. Every chapter is focused but you will find occasional twists throughout the book. You might not be familiar with lives of Jewish immigrants or Asian rice fields but Gladwell could elaborate them thoroughly.

  Distinction: 9/10: There are books which are on many issues of this book. There are books on IQ. There are books on Bill Gates and Silicon Valley. There are books on culture, randomness, talent, honour, you name it. However, this book is on another level by the approach the author used to look at those successes. Malcolm Gladwell connects those things and look through to another layer, opportunity and legacy. All the stories have been told but I believe that this is the first time they are tied and thread together.

  Practicality: 2/10: This book is not a self-help book. Do not expect to take anything from the book and make use of it. You cannot really create opportunity and legacy; they are mostly external. However, if you are reading this book at the age of ten to twelve, you might still have time (one point for this). Or if you are going to have or have a child, the book might be slightly helpful (another point for this).

  Credibility: 2/10: As intriguing as it might seem to be, do not take it too seriously. The theories of this book lack exceptions (which were present, apparently). The sample size is one or only a few which are not statistically reliable to construct a theory out of each successful story.

  Insight: 7/10: Although the number of cases representing each “theory” is too small, the author could elaborate each example in details and all of them are explained with lots of fascinating facts. The researches are quite deep into each topic and many of them are from the nineteenth century which are fascinating.

  Reading Experience: 8/10: This is one of the most fictional non-fiction books! Malcolm Gladwell is a genius in writing, to be specific, in storytelling. He made some boring and usual stuffs (like Asian’s math skill, public school, or Bill Gates!) interesting and made your brain tick all the time. You will feel like you are reading a book from a fiction section rather than what you normally find in Business & Investing section in Amazon.com.

  Overall: 6/10: If you read the title “Outliers: The Story of Success” and focus on the word “success” and hope that you can become successful as well, I give you a warning, you will not like it. However, if you concern more on the “story”, this is definitely a book for you. Don’t get me wrong, the stories are remarkable and I do not regret reading the book at all. There are some wonderful knowledge that I will not forget. I enjoy every minute reading the book. Nevertheless, I am clueless on how to become one of them.

  Tags: Book Review

• 29Nov

  How to Master One-on-One Communication

  Communication 1 Comment

  I am reading “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell. I will write a book review as soon as I finish it. The book is amazing.

  Today, I’d like to write more on communication. Malcolm Gladwell, at one point in the book, wrote about the miscommunication between two colleagues that led to a tragedy. In our normal setting, miscommunication between yourself and a colleague or a boss might not lead to a life and death situation but it might reduce your productivity at work.

  I will tell you the simple concept and techniques to have a better communication especially at work.

  I will focus on one on one communication.

  Communication Mitigation

  Malcolm Gladwell referred to the study of the linguists Ute Fischer and Judith Orasanu that when trying to persuade another person, we have six levels of mitigation.

  Gladwell wrote and gave examples of the life and death events in the book but I’m not going to spoil it. Instead I’ll give you an example of a less vital event.

  (When trying to persuade your boss and colleagues to go to McDonald’s for lunch because we are running out of lunch time. Suppose there is no other fast food restaurant around)

  1. Command: “Go to McDonald’s”

  2. Obligation Statement: “I think we need to go to McDonald’s”

  3. Suggestion: “Let’s have something quick, like McDonald’s”

  4. Query: “What would you like to have in 20 minute?”

  5. Preference: “I think it would we wise to have fast food”

  6. Hint: “Oh, we have little time for lunch” … This is the most mitigated statement of all.

  The communication mitigation, as the author pointed out, is heavily related to the Power Distance Index (PDI) of culture. In a low PDI culture, people rarely mitigate the message. People in low PDI culture, think of Americans, talk straight. On the opposite end, people in high PDI culture, think of Japaneses, rarely say things directly; they hint.

  People from the Western countries (predominantly low PDI) probably think that “hinting” is a bad idea and a sign of weakness. On the other hand, people from Asia (high PDI) will often think that “commanding the boss”, even in the life and death situation, is rude and totally disrespectful.

  The difference of the two cultures is that for those in low PDI culture, the responsibility of the communication relies on the speaker. The speaker has to make him/herself clear. On the other hand, in high PDI culture, it is the job of the receiver to think through and understand the message.

  …

  Your Duty as a Speaker

  

  Most contemporary businessmen, business books, ideas, theories, and so forth stongly support “candor”, friction free communication, flat organisation with free flow communication, honesty, etc.

  As a speaker we need to aim for two things;

  1. Full Understanding

  2. Willingness to Implement

  Understanding is not only the understanding of the content of your message, it also includes your intent, your sense of urgency, your emotions, and so forth. “Commanding” often lead to the understanding of the content but sometimes, the receiver might misjudge your intent and other factors. The receiver might translate “straight” as “rude”, “urgent” as “dictatorial”, and “passionate” as “picky”.

  To have the receiver of the message implement, willingness is a must. Implementing by force is not acceptable. Human nature dislikes command and order. A clear message with a blunt “do this” will not persuade the receiver wholeheartedly.

  On the other end of the scale, “hinting” will not neither give the receiver full understanding nor drive willingness to implement (because the receiver normally do not know exactly what to do).

  Now, you might say that “Okay, we’ll be in the middle. We’d better use ’suggestion’ or ‘query’.” Well, that’s not the case because ANY of those levels can be implemented depending on the situation.

  Speaker Checklist

  1. What’s your point? What exactly are you trying to communicate. There are times when we have more than points to communicate. Don’t. Don’t try to communicate more than one point at a time. The receiver might not be able to prioritise the importance of each point and how they are related. Or worse, the receiver might not understand any point you are communicating at all.

  2. What do you want? What is the outcome that you want to see. In the best case, what is your most desirable event that will happen after the conversation. It can’t be more annoying when a person is arguing for an argument-sake. You can use it in a brainstorming session when the question is open-ended. However, when trying to persuade anyone, you need to know what do you want.

  3. Who are you talking to? It’s cool to say that you talk to anyone similarly; you never change your message; you are honest. Wrong. You need to know who you are talking to in person. You need to know the preference of the receiver whether the receiver prefers plain and direct approach or something more humble and soft. You need to know the PDI of the receiver. You need to know the behaviour of the receiver. Even better, you need to know the current mood of the receiver.

  4. What are the options? From the zero-mitigated statement to the most mitigated statement, what is the most appropriate? Is there only one way or there are multiple options.

  5. What will the receiver hear? This is one of the most important steps. It is the step that you have to listen from the receiver’s side. The outcome that you need to get from the step is to check whether the receiver understand the content or not. First of all, study it by yourself. Think of a statement and change it to the six levels of mitigation. What do YOU think of each level? How will YOU understand? I did that for the “go to McDonald’s” myself and I think of each level. I changed my role and see how will I react to different level. The result is profoundly different and startling. The different levels of statement make me think, feel, and understand ultimately differently. Try it and you will know that simple deviation makes you understand differently. You receiver will too.

  6. How should the receiver feel? When you select the best level of mitigation and approach, that is just the first half (or less) of the story. Unless you communicate by e-mail or a letter, body language and your voice is more significant to the outcome of the message than the content per se. Taylormade your body language and the tone of your voice that will foster the best outcome, read “highest willingness to implement”.

  7. What’s the best place and time? It is apparent that communicating exactly the same message in the same way can have dramatically different outcome in different places and times.

  8. What’s the worst case scenario? What if the consequence does not turn out to be as planned? What will you do? You need to prepare for different consequences apart from the most likely case.

  If you have thought through all of them, you are prepared to communicate persuasively. However, in reality, you don’t always have the prestigious time to think of all the eight steps. If you can, good. If not, identify your past failure and learn from it.

  …

  Learn From The Failures

  What are your failures? What is the pattern?

  You might often fail because you don’t always know what to say, or say too many things at a time. Focus on the step 1

  If you are talkative and often speak of things you don’t know what should the outcome be. Focus on step 2

  If you talk to EVERYONE similarly or on the other extreme, you can’t talk to any person that you are not familiar with. Focus on step 3

  You might find yourself using the same pattern all the time “hinting”, “suggesting”, “commanding”, etc. Focus on step 4

  If, most of the times, the receiver misunderstood what you are trying to say. Focus on step 5

  Maybe you think that I did all the things right but they don’t like me or never follow me. Focus on step 6

  If you don’t say the right thing at the right time, all your effort is meaningless. Focus on step 7

  Sometimes, you did great communicating but when the outcome is not what you expect, you switch off and don’t know what to do. Focus on step 8

  …

  For me, personally, I often miss step 3. There are times when my communication is ultra-effective with one kind of people but have zero effect on others. I need to understand my receivers more. What about you? What is your communication failures, flaws, or weaknesses?

  Tags: Communication, Culture, Self-Improvement

• 26Nov

  Communication: How Steve Jobs Communicates

  Communication, Self-Improvement No Comments

  I looked at many succesful CEOs in the business world. There is a shared characteristic that they all possess, communication.

  “A key, perhaps, to leadership … is the effective communication of a story.” - Howard Gardner

  How do we master an ability to communicate?

  Firstly, I’ll look at those who are “the masters” of communiation.

  And I will look at how they did it.

  …

  I thought of many great and successful businessmen who are great communicators. However, there is a person that stands out. He is ahead of others in terms of communication especially public communication.

  Steve Jobs

  

  It is not necessary to write too much on what a great communicator he is. I browsed through many sites in search of the ingredients or the elements of his communication power.

  I read:

  1. An article by Carmine Gallo in BusinessWeek (here). The author wrote that Steve Jobs 1) Sell the benefits 2) Practice 3) Keep it Visual 4) Exude Passion, Energy, and Enthusiasm 5) “And one more thing” (how he adds the drama in the ending)

  2. An article by the same Carmine Gallo in BusinessWeek one year later (here). Gallo added that Steve Jobs 1) Build Tension 2) Stick to One Theme Per Slide 3) Add Pizzaz to Your Delivery 4) Practice 5) Be Honest and Show Enthusiasm. They are basically similar to the previous article.

  3. An article in a blog called “Communication Nation” by Dave Gray (here). He stated that Steve Jobs 1) Prepare carefully 2) Create Drama 3) Use Pictures 4) Make It Personal 5) Have Fun

  4. An article by Guy Kawasaki in his blog (here). He summarised into 10 points mainly about Minimalism, Visual, Guests, “But wait, there’s more” Moment, Human Touch, etc.

  …

  It is easy to detect the pattern from everyone’s view that he’s enthusiastic, energetic, passionate, dramatic, and make it visual. He connects. He understands the audiences. He knows how to make them (us) feel excited. He puts massive energy into the room.

  So, what should we do? Should we be more enthusiastic in everything we speak out? Should we use more pictures in our presentation?

  The answer is yes; we should do what Steve Jobs does in order to communicate to other people better. However, we might not have the opportunity of Steve Jobs everyday. I’ll tell you a simple (very simple) concept from a book and I’ll connect Steve Jobs to the concept. The book is Made To Stick by Chip and Dan Heath.

  I have my book review method based on the idea of this book and I will show how an ability to communicate of Steve Jobs is made to stick. The book outlines the characteristics that make ideas sticky which are SUCCES (Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotion, and Stories)

  …

  Simple

  Presentations of Steve Jobs are always simple. He always started with a “theme” of the presentation. The 2008 Macworld is themed “There’s something in the air.” and that simple concept is linked with the product he presented.

  This video from youtube.com is the first introduction of iMac in 1998. He clearly spoke out that iMac is for the number one use that customers were telling them what they want the computer for. Which is to “get on the Internet, simply and fast.” And that’s what “i” stood for, Internet. He later listed out other advantages of iMac but the core is simple, the computer that connects, simply and fast. Keep everything minimum.

  Unexpected

  The famous “one more thing” Steve Jobs love to say is one of the tools he used to drive the “unexpectedness”. Actually, it is not hundred per cent “unexpected”. It is rather that people “expect” to see the “unexpected”. The “unexpectedness” is created through long hours of practice and practice and practice.

  This video is the first introduction of iPhone in 2007. Steve Jobs knew that most customers knew what was coming. However, he built tension. he made twists. He diverted customers psychologically. From the video, he tricked audiences that he was going to introduce three products, and iPod, a phone, an an internet communication device. He then built up the atmosphere of the place and hinted until the audience found out (mostly unexpectedly) and he said “Are you getting it? These are not three separated devices, this is one device. And we are calling it, iPhone”. Twist the plot.

  Concrete

  We all know that Steve Jobs’ presentations are highly visual. You can always see it. He showed you how to use the product. He maximised the image and visual of his products. All of us do not have that priviledge. However, from a different aspect, he can communicate in a wonderfully concrete way like the video below.

  The first iPod introduction in 2001, Steve Jobs started a music industry revolution with

  “1,000 songs in your pocket”

  The phrase “1,000 songs in your pocket” is not only simple, but also highly concrete. People understand it right away. People know what they will get. People know what he is talking about. Make audiences understand.

  Credible

  Matter of fact, when Steve Jobs says anything, you should better believe that he is telling the truth. Credibility is earned by trust. Credibility is also gathered by references but Steve Jobs could not just say “Bill Gates told me that…”.

  This is the video of the first iPod nano in 2005. He showed audiences that previously the original iPod and iPod mini could be in your pocket. He then pointed to the little pocket on the sides of your jeans and said that he did not know what it is for. He then cheekily said “Well, now we know, because this…” and he picked iPod nano out of that little pocket. “Is the new iPod… nano”. He demonstrated that this thing is really thin. Don’t just say it, show it.

  Emotion

  Steve Jobs always presented with enthusiasm and energy. The reason is that he “understands” people. He knows the audience. He exactly knows what the audience “want”. He speaks to the heart of people. He tells them what they want to hear. He connects. However, from the video below. I want to show the opposite.

  The introduction of Macintosh in 1984! He did not speak much. He let Macintosh communicate! Only a man who was a genius in communication could make a computer communicate for him, well, 24 years ago. And look at the standing ovation at the end of the video. Tell me that those people were not emotional! Understand your audience.

  Stories

  “It is now 1984. It appears IBM… wants it ALL. Apple is perceived to be the only hope to offer IBM a run for its money. Dealers initially welcoming IBM with open arms, now fear an IBM dominated and control future. They increasingly and desperately turning back to Apple as the only force that can ensure their future freedom.”

  “IBM wants it all and it is aiming its gun on its last obstacles to industry control, Apple.”

  This video is more like a war cry than a corporate keynote speech. He used this speech, this story, to lay out the theme “1984″ the year he launched Macintosh. He used this story to create the sense of ownership and freedom of customers. He made customer feel that the product was not just a personal computer. It was a revolution and a symbol of freedom. Don’t talk facts, tell stories.

  …

  Although I picked each video for each element, each video has ALL the elements. His presentation or public communication is always simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, and with emotion and stories.

  Tags: Communication, Presentation, Steve Jobs

• 24Nov

  Summary: Your Career Choice

  Choice, Self-Improvement No Comments

  During the past week or two, I wrote “how to choose you career” in different aspects.
  - You have to choose it with your passion in “How Should We Choose Our Career?”
  - You have to choose it with your strength in “Matching Personalities with Your Career?”
  - You have to choose it because of money in “Choosing a Job Because of Money”

  Now, you might think “What exactly are you trying to say?” So, I present you this simple diagram

  Career Choice

  

  This simple diagram is pretty much self-explanatory. When choosing a career, we rely on one of these factors; passion, stength, or money. You either say

  “I like the job.” or

  “I am good at it.” or

  “The job pays huge.”

  If you are lucky, you will have both. The perfect case would be all three. I, for instance, chose the career that suits my strengths. The pay is absurdly little now and in the future. And I do not particularly like the job (but I like most people and environment here though). How did you choose?

  By the way, there are some other minor factors such as people, environment, distance from home, working hours, and so forth. However, these factors might be in consideration but they are not decisive factors and most of the times, they are tightly related to the three mentioned earlier.

  For example,

  - Nice people or good environment probably make you like the job more (which falls into “passion” category).

  - Flexible working hours will benefit the strengths of people who are laid back and/or dislike routine job.

  - Reputation of the company is closely related to how you will have higher pay in the future.

  …

  Is it possible to find a job or career that falls into the centre of the diagram enjoying passion, strength, and money?

  I strongly believe that we can have it! And my suggestion on the way to find it is to follow the order: passion-strength-money.

  1. Passion: I don’t know how other people think but passion should always be the first factor considering any job in the world. If you find the job you like it passionately, or love, you will not have to “work” for the rest of your life. You will “live” it. As I wrote in the past article that the easiest way to find your passion is to think of what makes you “talk about it all day and never shut up”. If you still can’t find any, spend the whole day talking to your family member or close friend. Talk until you’re tired! There are sometimes when I talked to my close friends and we were literally having different conversations. He would talk about golf (some do talk about stock market, some talk about cars, etc.) and I just nodded and replied something like; “Really, I never know that.” And when it was my turn to talk, I talked about books and their brains turned off immediately!

  2. Strength: After you list all your possible career paths or jobs from your passion. Take time to make your strength inventory and select the jobs that match your strength most. There are times when you might think that you like the job terribly much but you are not good at it. What comes into your brain would probably be “Well, PR manager is my childhood dream; I will never cross it out! I know I’m the worst public speaker ever but I think the job might not really need that skill, does it? Nah, I think I can just be a quiet PR manager!” Be honest, know yourself. There are times that we like the job so much that you do not realise that being a loser or a bozo in it is the fastest way to crush your passion.

  3. Money: The third and the last step is to consider money. I discourage you to put money above passion and strength. Yes, money is important but there is no money in the world that can buy you joy and self-fulfillment. Nevertheless, always consider money. If you don’t, there might be some times in the future that you regret. Changing the course of your career (or company) is not always easy. My advice is to take your time, don’t rush into every opportunity. Study it through and evaluate different options.

  …

  Is this the only way? No, and there are many people that chose strength or money first and became successful (some are insanely successful). However, the logic behind this order is that it is the most difficult to change your passion. Strengths can be developed although it takes time. And money comes and goes, it is the most volatile factor.

  Money is in your pocket

  Strength is in your body

  Passion is in your soul

  …

  What do you think? How should we choose our career? Out of the three, which factor are you enjoying? Which one are you suffering? How can you improve it?

  Tags: Career, Self-Improvement

• 20Nov

  Choosing a Job Because of Money!

  Choice No Comments

  Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Sergey Brin, and Larry Page started their careers with their passion.

  Many more successful businessman started their careers with their strength.

  However, the largest proportion of people (at least, from whom I know of) started careers because of money.

  Is choosing a career (or a job or a company) because of money a good thing?

  Jack Welch started a career because of money. From his book “Winning” (sorry, I don’t have that many books!):

  “When I took my first job, I had several offers, but the one from GE was $1,500 a year more than any other.”

  Money matters, a lot.

  If you consider “money” as a factor to decide which career path you should take. It is easy to say that the higher offer, the better. However, it is always not that easy. Instead of looking at the pay as a snapshot of the first day you start a job. It is crucial that you need to look through time. There are many times that you face “trade-offs”. It can be both money from “salary”, “wage”, “pay” you get from the company you work for or the money you make as an entrepreneur.

  Money Trade-offs

  

  The Y Axis is the “money” you get at a period of time. The X Asis is “timeline”; it can be 12 months or 10 years depending on how you project your future. My assumption on this graph is around 5 years. The lines show your money progress during your career.

  Please note that the area under the three lines are roughly equal. The total amount of money received at the end of the timeline (say 5 years) are equal. It is obvious to say that if there is a line above all those three with the high slope, you should choose that one!

  Option 1: The Hare: The Hare option starts strong. The pay is bigger than other options at the start. Compared to other options, you will enjoy you early career but you might struggle because of the minimal pay rise over the time.

  Option 2: The Turtle: The Turtle option starts slow. It might offer a lower pay at the beginning. However, the growth rate of the money from this option is much higher than the Hare option.

  Option 3: The Frog: The Frog option has very little or no growth rate over time and the amount of money at the start is irrelevant. However, this option will offer you a pay “leap” at a specific period of time.

  So, what does your current career resemble? The Turtle, The Hare, or The Frog?

  What is your choice?

  What are the advantages or disadvantages of each option.

  If you choose The Hare, the option 1, you will get higher pay at the beginning and you will enjoy life at the start. The place (career or company) might be serious but not very competitive. The place is likely to be stable. The Hare option symbolise three things that 1. the career or the company are not for money 2. the industry is not competitive or 3. the culture is bit socialism. The environment should be more secure that The Turtle or The Frog.

  If you choose The Turtle, the option 2, you will find life engaging and vibrating. You will feel that you fight hard to justify your pay rise. It is true that over the time, you’ll be richer than the Hare but this career might burn you out. More often than not, the higher growth of your pay will come with the higher risk of your career. The career paths (or companies) with this option will probably have higher turnover rate.

  If you choose The Frog, the option 3, you will find that life is unexpected and full of surprises. However, you might have to wait for far too long for a good surprise. The work of this options is often project-based or it is dependent on few big deals. You have to work hard to get to that “leap”. The leap will be rewarding. The problem is whether you can endure the period of time before the leap or not.

  …

  Jobs, careers, or companies are unlikely to be 100% turtle, or hare, or frog. Moreover, the pattern of the pay does not always reflects the culture, the environment, or the people there. However, it is essential that you take a look at the money now (or no money!) and look at the future as well. We should be able to detect the pattern of the money we will get in the future.

  Job change is sometimes inevitable and I believe that as long as your passion and strength are there, you can always change job, for the better. Isn’t it better to start high (Hare) and wait for a job change to higher growth job (Turtle) and the job change will often give you a leap, big or small.

  

  All in all, keep your options open and look further to different jobs. Detect your income pattern and plan for your future.

  “There is nothing worse than a guy who has made some money along the way opining that money shouldn’t matter to people who are picking a job. So I won’t do that. In fact, I’ll tell you that of course money matters - it matters a lot” Jack Welch

  Tags: Career, Jack Welch, Money, Self-Improvement

• 20Nov

  Matching Your Personality with Your Career

  Choice 6 Comments

  A couple of days ago, I wrote about “passion.” You need to find your passion for your career. Without passion, your job will be just a job. With passion, it will be your life; something that you can live with.

  However, although you find your passion, finding a job is not a simple task because;

  1. You might find more than one passion

  2. Your passion might lead to more than one available career

  As I mentioned in the previous post that “passion” is a root. It might lead to a tree but a tree has branches and finding the right branch requires further investigation.

  Now, it is time to investigate and probe into ourselves. The widespread method of probing into your self is a “personality test.” However, there are many personality tests available. The purpose of using them is to find your strengths and the next step is to match your strengths with the right career path.

  I believe that during your life; you should come across one or more times with the personality test. What matters is that you use the result to guide your path or it is just another enjoyable test that you read the result and say “Hey, that’s right” or “What?, that’s not me” and get on with your life.

  The two most popular tests are;

  1. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

  2. DISC assessment

  The MBTI test is available online for free. You can just Google it and take the one that you like. You can take more that one sources of the test and compare the results.

  DISC assessment is a widespread method of categorising people with the four factors, Dominant, Interpersonal, Steady, and Conscientious. A book “The Personality Code” by Travis Bradberry is my choice of DISC test; you can log on to their website here. Based on DISC assessment, the Personality Code test will come up with one of the fourteen personality types. Briefly, the book will describe your type and will tell you how to manage each type and what are the type vs anti-type.

  I strongly recommend another book on testing, Strenghtsfinder 2.0 by Tom Rath. The official site is here. This book suggests that you focus on your strengths and manage weaknesses, not the other way around. The author gives a simple formula “Talent x Investment = Strength”.

  …

  I have done many tests and you will not be amazed on how many career choices you will find. The process of finding the most suitable ones are;

  1. List your strengths: Different personalities have different sets of strengths and weaknesses. Focus on your strengths. From the personality tests, you might have to synthesise the results to figure out your strengths. If you try Strengthfinder 2.0 (or 1.0), the test will list out the strengths for you. There is another approach I got from the book: “The Answer” by John Assaraf and Murray Smith. The authors categorised unique strengths into types of “intelligence”:

  - Verbal-Lingistic Intelligence

  - Logical-Mathematical Intelligence

  - Musical-Rhytmic Intelligence

  - Visual-Spatial Intelligence

  - Body-Kinetic Intelligence

  - Interpersonal Intelligence

  - Intrapersonal Intelligence

  - Naturalistic Intelligence

  What we have to do is list the “achievements” we had in our lives that we value most and feel that they are successes. Then, we think of abilities and strengths that we used to pursue those achievements and there! We take them into our strength inventory.

  2. Rank your strengths: You then need to rank your strengths according to different factors. Firstly, from different tests, if a specific strength always come up, it is likely that the specific strength is one of your dominant strengths. Moreover, you can evaluate them on your own if some strengths do not describe you at all. Come up with around five (four to six) strengths you believe you posess.

  3. List the career paths: Next, it is the process that you have to take the inventory of different careers. Some tests will tell you suitable career paths; list them. An article by usnews.com (you can find many sources like this) matches the career paths with six types of people

  - Realistic, hands-on people

  - Investigative people

  - Artistic people

  - Social people

  - Enterprising people

  - Conventional people

  4. Match you strengths with each career path: This part is difficult because you might not know whether your strengths will be suitable for a specific career path or not. Use your gut and ask for help. You will find that some career paths match only one of your strengths; some will match one or two more. Some career paths will match most or all of your strengths. List those career paths that match your strengths most and you’ll have the final list (less than five would be the best number).

  …

  The steps sound simple and easy and (too) straightforward. However, the purpose of the steps is within you. They will make you think more of yourselves and understand yourselves more. The steps will make your mind and thought circle around your strengths; not the weaknesses, not the current crises.

  The successful matching of your strengths and career path will make you find the job that will cherish and enrich your talent.

  …

  What do you think of the method? Do you think that your current job makes your strengths flourish? Or does it make you fight your weaknesses day in day out? Do you think that personality test is a good tool to make a career choice?

  Tags: Career, Personality Test, Self-Improvement

• 18Nov

  Book Review: Winning (Jack Welch with Suzy Welch, 2005)

  Book Reviews 4 Comments

  “I have been asked literally thousands of questions. But most of them come down to this: What does it take to win?”

  

  From the front cover, although a bit overstated, “No other management book will ever be needed.” - Warren E. Buffet, is not too far off the truth.

  “Winning” by  Jack Welch, arguably the CEO of the 20th century, with Suzy Welch, the former editor of Haverd Business Review. Jack Welch turned G.E., General Electric, into one of the most competitive organisations in the world and also the most prestigious “talent” machine in the corporate world. Winning is a management book loaded with everything, you name it, leadership, HR, culture, budgeting, strategy, mission, etc.

  Contents

  Underneath It All:

  1. Mission and Values

  2. Candor

  3. Differentiation

  4. Voice and Dignity

  Your Company

  5. Leadership

  6. Hiring

  7. People Management

  8. Parting Ways

  9. Change

  10. Crisis Management

  Your Competition

  11. Strategy

  12. Budgeting

  13. Organic Growth

  14. Mergers and Acquisitions

  15. Six Sigma

  Your Career

  16. The Right Job

  17. Getting Promoted

  18. Hard Spots

  19. Work-Life Balance

  Tying Up Loose Ends

  20. Here, There, and Everywhere

  …

  Let’s compare the book the the ideal business book that’s easy to understand, distinct, practical, credible, insightful, and provides great reading experience.

  Ease of Understanding: 8/10: The book is straightforward and spot on. On each topic, you’ll quickly say “Yes!” or “No!”. You also do not have to think too much because 90% of the times is about G.E. The only drawback is the structure of the book that different chapters are separated; they are not perfectly tied together. It is just a minor drawback.

  Distinction: 7/10: It is just another management book on leadership, HR, strategy, etc. It just happens to be one of the best!

  Practicality: 8/10: All of us are not going to turn our companies into G.E. However, the book is practical. You would not be thinking “How will I do this?.” On the other hand, you might think “Will I have the gut to do it?.” All the instructions in the book are very simple for, example; “…strategy is actually very straighforward. You pick a general direction and implement like hell.” He then wrote about the simple five slides needed in strategy making.

  Credibility: 10/10: The book gets full mark on “credibility” and I see no reason to take any mark off. If you are playing golf, you’d better listen to Tiger Woods. Reading the words from arguably the CEO of the century is a sure bet. Success of G.E. is not a myth.

  Insight: 6/10: Unfortunately, this book is not “deep” enough. Jack and Suzy Welch covered many topics (probably every basic topic on management). They are straight to the point with very little information and basically no research on any topic. However, who we are to ask for “supporting data” from Jack Welch!

  Reading Experience: 9/10: Reading the book is like being in the room with Jack Welch and he keeps yelling “Do this! Trust me! Stop that! Stupid! Nonsense!” Reading the book is exciting when Jack Welch tells us blunt but bold techniques on how to make the company win. But if you “hate” Jack Welch, or Suzy Welch, or G.E., or all of them. The reading experience will not exceed 1/10!

  Overall: 8.0/10: Winning by Jack Welch with Suzy Welch deserves a place in your bookshelf. It is a no-nonsense management book with practical ways to improve your companies. It is easy to understand and is written by one of the best CEOs in modern history. However, if you dislike this former CEO or his company, skip this book fast. It can be the book that you hate most. Otherwise, read it and follow the winning path.

  Tags: Book Review, Jack Welch, Management

• 17Nov

  Book Review: Tuned In (Craig Stull, Phil Myers & David Meerman Scott, 2008)

  Book Reviews 4 Comments

  “If it’s so easy to understand and it makes so much sense, why don’t more companies get tuned it?”

  

  “Tuned In” by Craif Stull, Phil Myers & David Meerman Scott is a book on how to create the “resonator”, the product that sells itself. Or (quoted from the book);

  “The perfect solution to a specific problem”

  “A product or service that people want to buy without being coerced”

  “An offering that establishes a real and direct connection to what your market values most”

  “An idea that people immediately understand has value to them, even if they have never heard of your company or its products and services”

  The book describes the six steps of creating the resonator

  Contents

  Chapter 1: Why Didn’t We Think of That?

  Chapter 2: Tuned Out… and Just Guessing

  Chapter 3: Get Tuned In

  Chapter 4: Step 1: Find Unresolved Problems

  Chapter 5: Step 2: Understand Buyer Personas

  Chapter 6: Step 3: Quantify the Impact

  Chapter 7: Step 4: Create Breakthrough Experiences

  Chapter 8: Step 5: Articulate Powerful Ideas

  Chapter 9: Step 6: Establish Authentic Connections

  Chapter 10: Cultivate a Tuned In Culture

  Chapter 11: Unleash Your Resonator

  …

  Let’s compare “Tuned In” to the ideal business book that is easy to understand, distinct, practical, credible, insightful, and provides great reading experience.

  Ease of Understanding: 9/10: This book is very structured and it’s very hard to NOT understand. The concepts are not complicated. They are straight to the point with great examples all over the book.

  Distinction: 5/10: The concept of this book is another “customer-centric innovation”. There are hundreds of this kind of book on the shelf already. However, the way the authors present the concept with clear and concise examples is refreshing. This concept of the book is identical to others: just better.

  Practicality: 8/10: The six steps (plus what should be done before and after the steps) are simple enough to follow no matter what industry you are in. The authors showed examples ranging from the ice-cream shop to the comedian to Apple to the presidential election! The various examples with simple yet solid steps will make you think that you can do it.

  Credibility: 8/10: The vivid examples, again, “resonate” well with the concepts and steps. You can’t really deny the proven concept, customer-centric innovation. It’s so simple that make you think “There’s no reason I shouldn’t believe this.”

  Insight: 6/10: The real substance of the book is how it connects the concepts to examples. You will not find deep analysis or research in a particular subject. Moreover, this book tries hard not to bore you. Once the excitement in the topic fades, the authors move onto another topic.

  Reading Experience: 7/10: Reading “Tuned In” is enjoyable. You’ll read the contents of the books about how to create a “resonator” and you’ll think “Now….. How are you trying to convince me?” Craig Stull, Phil Myers, and David Meerman Scott will then give you simple explanations and excellent examples.

  Overall: 7.2/10: As I mentioned far too many times already that the examples of this book are excellent. The six steps to create the “resonator” are very easy to apply. If you are swimming in the ocean of books on innovation and could not find a good book that you can get your team or yourself rolling right away. This example-driven practical book on customer-centric innovation is tuned in for you.

  Tags: Advertising, Book Review, Innovation, Marketing

• 17Nov

  How Should We Choose Our Career?

  Choice 5 Comments

  In a couple of previous posts, I wrote briefly about how Sir Richard Branson made choices doing his career (life) here; and I wrote about how we should “focus” on the essentials gravitating all aspects of our roles together here.

  If we know that making a choice is vital to our present and our future. If we know that we need to keep our roles in harmony, we have families, friends, and communities. So, how should we choose our career?

  …

  It happened yesterday when I talked to my girlfriend and she asked me what career should she take after her master’s degree.

  I said: “None, stay home”

  She angrily said: “What?! I should be good at something!”

  I said: “Nothing, you don’t want to work hard and you want to be equally rewarded. That’s not going to happen.”

  She said: “But I can do many things, decently”

  I said: “But you won’t give a hundred percent. And that, you will be just average.”

  We had a small argument there.

  …

  In the evening, I talked to her on the phone and I told her to stop talking because my head was going to burst.

  I did that a couple of times in the past and she was furious that I stopped her from talking about…

  A trip itinerary.

  16 months in advance!

  …

  There! I thought and told her “That’s it, that’s what YOU should do. Become a tour organiser or a trip manager.”

  I conclude it here that you need to take a career that..

  make you talk about it all the time and never shut up.

  …

  There’s only one word that you need to look for. And it’s not “ability”, “competency”, “experience”, “interest”, “opportunity”, “advancement”, “salary”, “reputation”, “reward”, “environment”, “culture”, “lifestyle”, etc, etc.

  You might already guess it and you probably guessed it right. It’s passion.

  You might probably think “If only I know what my passion is”

  or “my passion will not make money”

  …

  Firstly, everyone has passion, big or small, expressed or unexpressed; we all have one. Passion drives your soul. Passion gives meaning to your life. Don’t mistake passion with fashion. Fashion or fad or interest make you excited for a period of time and it’s gone.

  Secondly, don’t confuse passion with hobby. Hobby or your favourite recreation are just activities. Passion is the root of your activities. Some hobbies might make money, some won’t. Passion is not a thing you do; passion is what makes you do things.

  Moreover, passion does make money. If it does not make money; it’s the fault of things such as an ability to fulfills your passion or just a bad business model.

  Of all the components of successful business, passion is the most difficult and yet, the easiest component you can achieve. You cannot just say, “Let’s develop passion for the next two quarters”. Unlike other intangible assets you possess like “creativity”, “intelligence”, “initiation”, “communication”, etc; you cannot intentionally develop passion. Yet, passion came out of nowhere. Moreover, passion has no limit. Sometimes, we have trouble to push beyond our current “creativity” level or our “communication” skill. Passion, on the other hand, can rise higher and higher without barrier. And good news, the more the better.

  I’ll take an excerpt from the book I read recently: “The Future of Management” by Gary Hamel and Bill Breen where they talked about Management Innovation. They stated the “capabilities” that contribute to value creation in an organisation which are; Passion, Creativity, Initiative, Intellect, Diligence, and Obedience.

  From 100%

  Obedience: 0%; Rule-following employees are worth zip in terms of competitive advantages they generate

  Diligence: 5%; Diligent employees don’t take short-cuts but they are not likely to contribute much to the value creation

  Intellect: 15%: Most companies work hard to find intelligent employees but they are now commodities in this flat world

  Initiative: 20%: Employees who don’t wait to be asked and don’t need to be told.

  Creativity: 25%: Inquisitive and irrepressible employees; they are important for value-creation. They are people who always said “Wouldn’t it be cool if…”

  Passion: 35%: “One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested” E. M. Forster, English novelist

  Nevertheless, there are far too many people trying to make themselves more intellectual by getting degrees after degrees. Those same people often neglect passion. Many people studied hard for a degree in finance to be an investment banker. Do they really CARE about other people’s investment? Many people studied hard for a degree in marketing. Do they really CARE about the soap, shampoo, digital camera, or cars they are trying to market?

  If not, then, they are in deep… trouble. Because the furthest they can contribute is merely 65% by the theory of Gary Hamel and Bill Breen. Actually, they have just achieved (maybe partially) 10% of the capabilities (intellect) from their degrees.

  To quote the words of Charles Handy I got from Tom Peters’ slides from his blog:

  “Passion was what drove these people, passion for their product, passion for their cause. If you care enough, you will find out what you need to know. Or you will experiment and not worry if the experiment goes wrong. Passion as the secret to learning is an odd secret to propose, but I believe that it works at all levels and at all ages. Sadly, passion is not a word often heard in the elephant organizations, nor in schools, where it can seem disruptive.”

  …

  One suggestion: “If you are living you life out of your passion, you are heading the wrong way. If you work without passion, get out, fast.”

  …

  My belief is that we don’t need to keep our passion alive. Because it’s already living. It’s breathing and it’s burning. It’s our job to find it and live it.

  Live your life with, by, from, and for your passion.

  Tags: Management, Passion, Self-Improvement

• 16Nov

  Book Review: Inside Steve’s Brain (Leander Kahney, 2008)

  Book Reviews No Comments

  “I want to put a ding in the universe.”

  

  “Inside Steve’s Brain” by Leander Kahney is one of a very few books on Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple. The author wrote about the life of Steve Jobs and his role in Apple and how he started a company, got boot out of the company, got in again, and changed the world’s lifestyle.

  Content

  1. Focus: How Saying “No” Saved Apple

  2. Despotism: Apple’s One-Man Focus Group

  3. Perfectionism: Product Design and the Pursuit of Excellence

  4. Elitism: Hire Only A Players, Fire the Bozos

  5. Passion: Putting a Ding in the Universe

  6. Inventive Spirit: Where Does the Innovation Come From?

  7. Case Study: How It All Came Together with the iPod

  8. Total Control: The Whole Widget

  This book is apparently not the typical business book but let’s compare it with the ideal business book; a book that is “easy to understand, distinct, practical, credible, insightful, and provides great reading experience.”

  Ease of Understanding: 7/10: Being a news editor for WIRED, Leander Kahney made it very easy to understand the life of Steve Jobs and Apple. However, the bad point of this book is that stories are repetitive. The story of “Apple II” is in most chapters as well as stories of iMac, iPod, etc. By trying to tie those stories with characteristics of Steve Jobs (as in the title of each chapter), stories of different products and people are scattered all over the book.

  Distinction: 5/10: The business biography of successful businessmen is anything but new. However, there are very few options of the stories of Steve Jobs.

  Practicality: 4/10: This book is not practical in a sense that not everyone can be Steve Jobs. The author also did not give us ideas that readers could apply to our lives. The “Lessons from Steve” at the end of each chapter are just what Steve Jobs did and succeed; they are not what you can and should do.

  Credibility: 6/10: The title of the book “Inside Steve’s Brain” is misleading. The book is obviously not written by Steve Jobs himself. Analyses, interpretations, thoughts, and assumptions by the author are sound but they are still unconvincing. It is doubtedful and inevident that how accurate they actually resonate Steve’s thoughts.

  Insightful: 8/10: This is the best aspect of this book; the author had a long list of researches, interviews, findings on Steve Jobs and Apple. It might be an overstatement but you can find interesting facts or interviews in almost every page of the book. That is truly remarkable and Steve Jobs himself might not be able to put together these pieces of information like Leander Kahney.

  Reading Experience: 6/10: Well, this book is not like listening to Steve Jobs in Macworld. It was more like having a conversation with a vivid and passionate Steve Jobs and Apple fan who kept saying “Apple is a magic, the rest are rubbish.”

  Overall: 6/10: If you want to know more about Steve Jobs or you love your Apple products; buy “Inside Steve’s Brain”. There is no other recent option.

  Tags: Book Review, Steve Jobs

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